#glowing posts

“What if I could save you?”

I think this goes along with the way that Armand has been taught that his circumstances are out of his control. His survival instincts are definitely of the fawn variety. Make himself vulnerable enough that the parts he doesn't want known are not seen, not hurt. That makes a ton of sense when you consider that he historically has not had a lot of power. Even as Armand ages and grows into the dark gift, things happen that he can't control, and it is reinforced to him that the only way to survive is to find the catalyst for change and follow them. To him, they obviously have some sort of innate talent for change that he does not possess.

Armand is aware of his own power, and he is aware that he is trapped. He just doesn't know what to do about it. The people in his life like him better without the ability to self advocate, so he doesn't. Since it wasn't conducive to his survival, he never learned how.

I believe this is also why Daniel was so frustrating and fascinating to him. 70s Daniel immediately recognized things about Louis ("by then, you'd paid a biblical price for your first love"), and that naturally scared Armand. Any outside force could and had destabilized his entire life (whether he wanted it or not). This random human somehow was able to hold Louis's attention, even make correct assertions about his life.

Like. My understanding of this session was from watching Grian's Double Life & I think I watched Pearl's video for it & then everything else is what I've absorbed from fandom.

& two things that I hadn't been expecting based on that knowledge that I got out of Etho's video:

First: Etho trying to extinguish the Relation. Like. They come up on its burning remains & Joel is saying that it's okay, it was really more of a metaphor, they'll be alright, & Etho's just. Stumbling over repeated questions of what they'll be & where they'll be without their Relation as he hops around the remaining blocks, picking up decorations not on fire & putting out whatever blocks he can.

Joel lets it go, accepts that the Relation is gone the moment they get to it & see the damage, & reassures Etho while also plotting revenge. & Etho's in shock & still trying to save it, trying to save this ship Joel built for them, by himself, while Etho was off taking huge risks after making Joel promise not to take any, that Etho came home to & was stunned by its beauty. Etho does not want to let it go, to admit that it was gone. Which brings me to...

Second: Once Etho realizes that's it, the Relation is gone, he's so 110% on board with everything burning, & quite frankly, from his point of view, he is very much the more unhinged one here. Joel might be leading them & announcing that everything burns, but Etho is right behind him, taking flint & steel to anything that'll go up, repeating those words like a mantra.

Joel seems focused on taking out everyone else's bases, but Etho is lighting everything on fire. Any hint of wood on a base? On fire. Trees? On fire. Mobs? On fire. Other red name players? On fire. The grass? On fire. The bridge made of deepslate that's not actually going to burn at all? On fire x6.

Also on fire? Etho. He's so desperate to make the whole server burn, he keeps setting himself on fire in the process & taking surprisingly long to actually extinguish himself. He lighting the ground in front of him & then jumping over the flames & they catch him in the process & he does this like six time in a row while trying to light up a burn proof deepslate bridge. & he only actually pulls out the water bucket a couple of times in the process, just letting himself be on fire.

This man is so hellbent on destruction that he seems to forget his own safety, forget that that is also Joel's safety, & is So. God. Damn. Reckless.

I've read a lot of fic about the Relation burning down & based on every single one of them, I expected Joel to be devastated by its loss, to be inconsolable, to be reckless while Etho comforts & follows along & joins in, because Joel needs this, so maybe Etho does too.

But no, from Etho's own point of view, it is the exact opposite. Etho is devastated, Etho is in shocked, Etho needs to be comforted & reassured. Joel suggests everything burning in response, & yeah, he wants revenge too, but gods. It really feels like he suggests it to give Etho a direction for all those feelings, to give Etho an outlet.

Discourse toxicity the likes you've never seen are happening on r/mathmemes rn